


One Step Forward Into Darkness

by Hell_later_on



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Dark Anakin Skywalker, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Mischief, Movie: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Multi, Original Character(s), Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:48:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29147715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hell_later_on/pseuds/Hell_later_on
Summary: Sometimes, the paths we choose may look like they are leading us to the wrong places, when in fact, they were always where we were meant to be.Anakin Skywalker X Original Female Character.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker/Original Female Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze
Kudos: 9





	1. Kenobi

“Given the circumstances , the council has elected you, master Kenobi.”

The Jedi stood emotionless in the middle of the room for a moment. Brows furrowed as his stare was lost into the cityscape behind master Windu’s head.”  
His apprentice, Anakin, nudged him slightly.

Obi-Wan quickly blinked a few times, shaken out of his reverie. “Of course.” He finally met his interlocutor’s eyes. “No, of course, it only makes sense.” He breathed in, trying to chase the feelings rising.

“A problem will it be?” Yoda cut in, clearly sensing the Jedi’s conflicted feelings.

“Not at all, master Yoda.”

“Good. Settled it is then. Tomorrow at dawn, leave you will.” Yoda informed the pair.

The Jedi nodded before leaving the room with his padawan closely behind.

Once they started down the corridor, out of the council’s earshot, Anakin spoke up. “I’m so sorry master, all this time and I didn’t know of your title. I am deeply sorry.. my Lord.” The young man snickered to himself, grin wide, whilst mocking his master.

“This is not a joke, Anakin. In case you have failed to realize, most of us left our homeworlds as infants. I had as much knowledge of this as you do now.” He replied.

Truth is, he could remember flying over the planet multiple times, but couldn’t recall ever setting foot on it. He pondered for a moment, searching within if he could somehow reconstruct the faces of the ones who had birthed him. But it was to no avail. On top of having forgotten his “parents” faces, he couldn’t even remember their names.

He had been brought to the temple when he was a little over three years old. Even the oldest memories he had were here on Coruscant. 

He shook his head at the thoughts, chasing them from his mind. It didn’t matter anyway since they were now dead. And only to learn, seconds later, that he had a sister and now had to return “home” to protect his native land and help her.

He felt conflicted. It obviously made sense to be the one sent on this mission, but at the same time he didn’t know how to feel about it all. He somehow was under the impression this was a test from the council. Over the years, his relationship with his rebellious padawan had caused him many troubles with the order of Jedis. Many times his affection for Anakin was a little too apparent and that was a liability.

“Oh you know I’m only kidding, master.” Anakin grinned, oblivious to his mentor’s inner monologue. Too busy thinking about all the new ways he could now tease his senior.

“Just go get ready for our voyage, Anakin.” He instructed before turning in the opposite as to where his padawan was headed.

The young man stayed put at the intersection where his master had left him before calling out to him. “And where are you going?” 

“I have to check something out.” He simply replied before disappearing behind another turn.

The Padawan sighed before making his way back to his quarters for the night.

When Anakin woke up, it was by the sun hitting his eyes. He squinted forcefully trying to chase the fatigue from behind his eyelids. 

He groaned in discontent, clearly unhappy to be awake. He had a dream about the gorgeous Padmé again. And not the kinds of dreams Jedis should be having.  
He suddenly jerked up in bed. “Oh no.”

His heart begun to race as he fought the covers of his body, promptly getting up. He nearly tripped on his way to the bathroom. “Oh no. Obi-Wan is gonna be furious.” He repeated to himself, whining.

Just as the thought crossed his min, a heavy knock came to the door of his quarters. “Anakin! You’re late!” It was his master’s voice, unmistakably angry.

“Coming! Coming!” He shouted back.

Running to the door, a simple towel around his waist, he twisted his hand slightly, mid-air, unlocking the door with the force. 

“Blast!” Did you just wake up?!” Kenobi sighted in despair, whilst bringing one hand to his forehead, the other one on his hip.

The young Skywalker gave him an apologetic smile before darting back to his bedroom.

The door slid close behind the master as he entered further in his padawan’s apartments. 

“I’ll be there in a minute!” Anakin called out as he turned on the shower. “I swear I told R2 to wake me up last night!”

The small droid quipped in disapproval from somewhere within the apartments.

“I hope you at least prepared your baggage last night like I told you.” The master called out, but no reply came, seeing as the other was already under the stream of the shower.

Soon enough, the young apprentice was coming out, dressed, suitcase in hand, damp hair dripping onto his pale beige cloak.

The younger of the two walked by the older, giving him a smirk. “Come on, my Lord, we are going to be late.”

The light slap came instantly to his arm as soon as the words had left his mouth. 

“Will you ever take anything seriously?” Obi-wan retorted.

“Blaster!” Skywalker replied, completely ignoring his master, whilst throwing his suitcase in the back of the speeder.

“Blaster?” The master repeated.

“Yes. Blaster. You never heard that expression before?” Anakin asked as he settled in the driver’s seat.

Obi-Wan cocked an eyebrow at him. “Oh you’re not driving. It’s morning, I haven’t even had coffee yet.”

The apprentice ignited the craft before smirking at his mentor. “You see, whoever says Blaster first when they see the vehicle, gets to drive.” 

Obi-wan scoffed. “Says who? And why blaster?”

“Says everyone!” The student simply retorted.

“I swear, you’ll be the death of me!”

And with that, the two Jedis set off into the sky.

Travelling there didn’t take as long as Anakin thought it would. He couldn’t say as much for his master. Even from the other side of the ship he could feel the anticipation growing the closer they were getting to the planet.

As they broke atmosphere, Anakin advanced towards the cockpit to take a better look at the planet.

Much to his satisfaction, no sand in sight. Well, just not everywhere. Growing up in the desert, to him, was such a bore. No jungle adventure, no swimming in waterfalls and just scorching hot, so hot.

No. Instead, the planet looked quite pleasant. Stretching meadows, crystal blue waters, ragged cliffs of white rocks and mountains and forests of olive green.

Farther, in the distance, Anakin could make out the outline of a city.

A few minutes later, the ship was softly touching ground in a peaceful meadow.

“Alright, here we go.” Announced Kenobi as he powered the craft down.

“There’s nothing here.” Anakin squinted in the distance, trying to see what his master did. “I think I saw a city east from here.”

Both of them got up from their seats, making their way to the back of the ship.

“Those are the coordinates of the transmission the council received. Kenobi replied.

The rear of the ship hissed as the cargo bay door lowered open.

“Mmmm.” The padawan pondered. Maybe we should rewatch it to try and find clues in it. Well, I haven’t even seen it, I don’t even know what she looks like.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt…R2?”

The small droid whistled happily as it made it’s way towards the two Jedis.

A feminine silhouette glitched into view above the droid’s head.

She was young, about Skywalker’s age. Difficult to determine the colour of her hair and such seeing as the hologram painted everything in a shade of blue. The dress she was wearing was torn at the shoulder, signs of evident fight. Her hair was braided in three braids away from her face whilst the rest hung loose, cascading down her back in bouncing curls.

She spoke with urgency: “My name is Fawnrielle Kenobi from the planet of Stewjorn in the Stewjorn system. A month ago, an extremely large deposit of Kyber was found within one of our mines. Upon this news, a group of ruffians has taken our city under siege. I have reason to believe they have killed my parents.” She paused a moment there, inhaling sharply as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I fled the city admits the bloodshed. They have taken many as hostages and killed many. Our people fought back, but they came in great numbers and unexpectedly. I ask that you may please send us help to restore the peace here on Jewton.” The girl’s image faded.

“So? Asked Kenobi. “What can you read from this?”

“Well, I’m surprised how beautiful she is considering how you turned out.” Anakin smirked.

The Jedi master just rolled his eyes, letting out a sight before starting down the ramp of the ship. “You are useless Anakin.”

R2D2 chimed at that remark.

The young apprentice let out a small laugh before chasing after his master. “Stay here R2.” He called out just as the craft let out a hiss and started closing again. “But all jokes aside, I swear I could hear a waterfall in the background.”

They looked around their surroundings for a bit, trying to see if they could make out the silhouette of a waterfall in the distance. They had landed in the middle of the meadow. All around them were tall grasses and wild flowers. The fresh air filled their nostrils. It was a well appreciated change from the heavy smog of Coruscant. At the end of the valley, there started a sparse forrest of trees. Behind those, alpine mountains.

They stood still, trying to listen to their environment.

Birds, wind softly blowing in the high grass, but no sound of water.

Armed with a pair of binoculars, Obi-Wan searched the horizon. “Wait, I think I see it.” Kenobi announced whilst pointing in the distance.

He handed his padawan the tool still holding up his finger for Anakin to see. After focusing hard enough he could finally make it out. There, past the treeline, nestled between two cliffs was a waterfall.

“I guess this is where we start.”

It must have been mid afternoon by the time they reached the waterfall judging by the position of the sun.

Nestled in the rocky cliff face, a medium sized waterfall emptied itself in a shallow lake that narrowed into a lazy river a few paces downstream.

They inspected the banks of the small lake that laid at the feet of the waterfall. In the mud were definite footprints, bare footprints.

“Master look.” Anakin called out.

Approaching his apprentice, Obi-Wan saw what he had discovered. Hidden inside a hollow trunk laying at the edge of the water were a pair of muddy heels and the soiled hem of a pale yellow dress.

Kenobi picked up the hem and studied it for a second. It was believed that one cold sense other family members through the force if they were sensitive to it. Alas, nothing.

He let it fall to the ground just as his apprentice seemed to have found something else.

“I think I found a droid.”

Anakin reached down. There, under a pile of driftwood, was a 3PO-series protocol droid, badly injured. 

“Ashes here.” The senior replied. “The footprints lead to the water. She must have been trying to hide her tracks. She probably spent the night here, sent her transmission before her droid broke down. I don’t see any other sets of footprints but hers so we probably are the first ones to follow her here.” He looked back at his apprentice. “Any luck with the droid?”

Anakin made his way back to his teacher. “I would need my tools, it’s heavily damaged. I’ll ask R2 to come fetch it and if by the end of the day we haven’t found her we can always try to fix the droid.”

“Good idea. While you do that I’ll go to the other side see if the tracks pick up.”

Moments later, the pair were reunited on the opposite side as to where they had started.

“What are you doing with those?” Kenobi asked Skywalker.

In his hands were the pair of heels they had found on the other side.

“Well, I thought she might want to have these back. Especially seeing as she’s barefoot now.” He said, matter-of-factly.

“I think it was her point.” Kenobi squinted doubtfully at him. “Besides, they are in a terrible state.” He said as he turned back to the task at hand.

“I can wash them.” Skywalker simply said as he walked over the water and submerged the shoes in the crystal blue water. “See. Like new.”

“I suppose.” The senior simply replied. “I guess it’s not like we have lady shoes to lend her on our ship.” He added.

“Exactly my point.”

Kenobi brushed off his padawan’s magical thinking.

The pair carried on in the woods, following as best as they could, the trail the young girl had left behind.

She may have tried her best, but for an experienced Jedi or bounty hunter, she was still easily trackable.

After a short trek through the woods, the trees opened up on a small village.

It was a rustic settlement of small wooden homes, farm animals were roaming around peacefully as the villagers tended to their various tasks. 

Walking through the town, they stuck out like sore thumbs, earning looks from the bystanders. They reached what seemed to be the town centre and started asking around.

“Hello there young ones.” Obi-Wan begun as he approached a group of children playing around.

A young girl lifted her head up looking at the pair.

“We are looking for a young lady in a yellow dress that doesn’t live here. Have you seen such a lady around?” He said as he knelt down to their height. The rest of the children had turned around by then.

“She has very long curly hair with three braids here and here. She sort of looks like him in a weird way.” Anakin started as he pointed at Kenobi. “She has, full, heart shaped lips, straight long nose, really dark eyes.. Kinda like yours.” He pointed to one of the little girls. “Mmmm, what else?” He brought a finger to his chin whilst in thought. “She is quite lean, with-“

“Okay, I think they get the picture.” Obi-Wan cut him while giving him a very concerned look.

The girls whispered amongst themselves for a minute. Stealing glances at Anakin before giggling and returning to their conversation.

The Jedis looked at each other in confusion as they waited for the verdict of the girl council.

The group of girls erupted in laughter before they broke apart.

The one who looked the oldest spoke up. “We will bring you to Lady Kenobi. But only you.” She pointed at young Skywalker.

Both Jedi raised an eyebrow at the demand.

“Why so? You see, I’m actually-“ Obi-Wan started before the young girl cut him off again.

“Because only one of you can be her knight with shining lightsaber.” She said matter-of-factly. “And he clearly likes her most.”

The girls giggled. “Even if he has very strange hair.” One of them chimed in, earning her to quit shushed by her friends admits their laughter.

Obi-Wan shared an exasperated look to his padawan who was hiding a smile behind his hand.

“Oh so you’re in on this.” He barked at his apprentice who was clearly enjoying the situation a little too much.

“Oh come on master. It’s not that bad, just wait here.” Anakin smirked. “Besides you can’t argue argue with their logic. I am a valiant knight on a quest to save a damsel.”

Kenobi scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Anakin, we’re not here to play theatre. This is politics.”

But the Padawan ignored him, clearly enjoying his fame too much. They would have to talk about this later, but for now, time was of the essence.

The girls’ eyes were all glued on Kenobi now, waiting for his reply.

The Jedi pondered for a second. I mean he could simply just go ask some adults and be done with it. But truth be told, he was a little apprehensive himself at the idea of meeting his sister. Would she know who he was? How was he supposed to act? Was he supposed to hug her? Shake her hand?

And wether he liked it or not, seeing the grin on Skywalker’s face always managed to turn his stern ways over. This is exactly why he got in trouble all the time. He always folded in to Anakin’s foolish ways. Their stories were famous for a reason, always causing shenanigans left and right, leaving trails of rumours behind… The Padawan made his life more exciting’'.

He sighed. “Fine.” And besides, the little girls were practically blackmailing him with their pleading eyes at this point. “But I demand that at least one of you ladies to keep me company as you bring my friend here to Lady Kenobi.”

The girls all cheered before grabbing onto Anakin and dragging him away

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi hi hi :) this is my first time actually posting/using this website, a friend recommended it to me! but anyways here goes first chapter! please don't be shy to tell me what you think and let's be friends!


	2. Knight With Shining Lightsaber

The young girl guided Anakin through the small town, dragging him by the cuff of his robe, followed by her friends.

One of them spoke up. “How long have you known Lady Kenobi for?” She asked looking up at him.

“Oh, actually we’ve never met.” He admitted.

“Well, she’s very beautiful and kind, you’ll see.” His little guide, a brunette girl, chimed in.

“Yes!” Another one added. “You will most certainly love her.”

Anakin was certainly amused by the group of young guides. They had clearly read too many fairy tales. Yet, he couldn’t help but entertain them. It reminded him of his childhood on Tatooine when he had hopes and dreams. In a way, his fairy tale had come true. He had been saved from slavery and brought to Coruscant to become a Jedi knight. Though, back then, he thought Padmé would be his princess, his true love. That was before learning of the rules of the Jedi, before Padmé made it clear she wasn’t interested.

Soon enough, they had reached a small villager’s wooden house on the outskirts of the village.

“Here we are!” The girl who was holding his cuff opened the door. It was most probably her own house. “Mommy?” She called out. 

No reply.

A conversation could be faintly heard in the adjacent room.

As the group of girls scattered around, sitting on the couches, Anakin turned his attention to the conversation going on on the other side of the wall.

“I couldn’t be more thankful Mrs Magrid, but I really must carry on before they catch up to me. I would me mortified if your village was under attack just as our city was.” Spoke a clear female voice. “I will kindly accept whatever you can give me for my journey. But once this is all over, please do lend me a visit so I can repay you.”

The brunette led him towards the sound of the voice.

Just as they were about to turn the archway to the room, he felt the force inside him stir like a quick lighting strike in his vein. Half a second later he collided into another soft body just as he was turning.

A confused face looked up at him, her body knocked back by his.

He could finally see her in colour. She had dark brown eyes adorned by equally dark lashes and soft arched eyebrows. Her pink cheeks seemed as if they had been dusted by a galaxy of freckles. Anakin could see the resemblance to his master in her nose, strong, straight and frank, slicing her face in half in a narrow line. Bellow her nose, her cupid’s bow stretched forward prominently to set the stage for a plump upper lip followed by a thiner lower lip. The whole of her features framed by a mass of thick copper hair.

He blinked a few times. His eyes instantly engraving her features into his brain. She looked lovely.

In the single second she stood there before him, her surprised expression quickly changed to terror as she promptly turned around and darted across the room.

“Wait! No!” Anakin shouted as he quickly understood she probably thought he was the enemy.

He chased after her through the house, his flying robes knocking things over in his way. “Sorry. So sorry!” 

She had the advantage of knowing the territory as well as being much smaller.

The young Jedi chased her outside and down the street. “Lady Kenobi, wait!”

She showed no sign of slowing down, holding the hem of her dress as she avoided obstacles, red hair flying around.

Lucky for him, she was heading straight to his master.

“Obi-Wan!” He yelled out.

Not far from there, the master heard the commotion coming closer. He got up from his seat and excused himself from the young girl he was talking to.

Just as he did, he saw, rounding the street corner, a crazed girl running towards him, Anakin right on her heels.

Getting up from his seat, he calmly raised a hand, using the force to simply shift a basket in her way.

The redhead tumbled over, face first, tripping over the foreign object. Her body falling forward, she reached out with her hands to catch her fall.

Anakin, following so closely behind, found himself tripping over as well. His body, attracted by the same gravity, soon found the same fate as the girl before him.  
His long robes flipped over their heads in the fall.

Obi-Wan watched in disbelief and exasperation as his Padawan plummeted right over the girl. He shielded his eyes from the embarrassment. Such grace. He thought to himself.

“Get away from me!” The girl yelled as she fought from underneath Anakin’s body.

She tried crawling away from her “assailant” only to get tangled in the fabric of his robes.

“Lady Kenobi calm down!” Skywalker tried to reason with her.

But still, she continued to fight him off, screaming for help.

Soon enough, villagers were attracted by the ruckus.

Skywalker managed to kick back in place his overbearing cloak as he spun her onto her back, grabbing hold of her wrists. He was now kneeling over her, each knee besides her ribcage as he held her hands to his chest to keep her from hitting him. “We’re here to save you! Please stop!” He cried out.

He looked into her eyes to see the sheer fear plastered all over her face.

“Save me?!” She yelled out in disbelief, voice cracking.

A group of men quickly made their way towards the pair, ready to intervene.

Sensing the altercation coming, Kenobi rushed towards them, putting his hands up in defence towards the men.

“We are Jedis, we were sent after we received your distress call.” Kenobi cut in, not taking his eyes off the saviours. He shifted his robe to reveal his lightsaber to the men. “Now will you get off of her Anakin for the force’s sake!” He pleaded.

The girl’s body had relaxed ever so slightly after Kenobi’s words, but her expression remained alarmed as she looked into Anakin’s eyes.

Pinned down under him, she had finally stopped squirming.

“I don’t know. Will I have to chase you again?” He asked her.

Panting underneath him, her heart beating out of her chest she shook her head rapidly.

Anakin could feel her pulse racing under his palms as he slowly released his grip on her wrists.

He then promptly got up, outstretching his hand out to help her.

Hesitant at first, she finally had the chance to study his face for a second. 

He was about her age, his skin a soft shade of almond complimented by the beige tones of his clothing. His eyes were completely opposite of hers. They were almond shaped, in a shade of pale greyish blue and crowned by a pair of low set, thick and straight brown eyebrows. His nose descended down his face in a straight line to finish in a soft button tip. Farther below, a set of pink lips stretched past the corners of his nose, then again, unlike hers, his bottom lip appeared fuller than the upper one. His overall features were smooth and balanced. Below low-set cheekbones, his cheeks slightly caved in to then run down to a defined jaw and a wide chin. His sandy brown hair had been buzzed off about an inch away from his scalp all over. Except for a small braid that trailed from behind his left ear and down onto his shoulder. Only now did she recognize the classic padawan hairstyle.

Letting out a sight of relief, she lifted her eyes to the sky as she placed her hand in the apprentice’s taller one.

The adrenaline washed off as she stood up, letting place to a sudden feeling of embarrassment.

“I’m alright good sirs.” She turned towards her good samaritans. “I thank you for your concerns.” She gave them a small smile to which they replied with by small nods before dispersing.

“I must admit Anakin, you have a way with the ladies. I am most definitely taking notes.” The master Jedi told his Padawan, hands on his hips, an amused smirk plastered across his face.

Skywalker let out an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his neck. “I deeply apologize my Lady.” He gave her a courteous nod.

The young girl’s cheeks flushed. “No it’s me who must apologize. How much of a fool I must have looked to you. You see-“

“Oh no, no, it’s quite alright my lady.” He offered her a small smile, revealing a set of perfectly aligned white teeth.

The smile quickly faded to be replaced by an expression of concern. “I hope I didn’t hurt you?” He suddenly became mortified as he realized he had quite literally been sitting on her mere moments ago. “Or frighten you!” his blue eyes stared her up and down looking for signs of wounds.

The redhead felt herself flush even more as she felt his eyes searching her realizing how much of a mess she looked. Her hair had fallen out of it’s braids a long time ago. She was still wearing the same dress as she was when she had escaped the massacre almost 2 days ago. Except she had torn off the hem to allow her more movement and was covered in mud from sleeping on the ground. She had stopped at the village for a few hours for some food and some supplies. Her old nanny had kindly helped her and offered her to stay until help from the republic arrived. But she knew by now her attackers would have noticed her missing and sent after her.

“I’m… I’m alright.” She reassured the Jedi apprentice. That was a lie, she had cuts and bruises all over on top of the soreness from getting crushed. But she felt already so bad for causing such a scene seeing as all she could see now was the kindness in his eyes and voice. If she hadn’t been so on edge none of this would have happened.

“You are clearly not, my Lady.” Kenobi intervened. “Let’s sit a moment”

Both Jedis helped her sit by a well nearby.

“Anakin, will you go fetch supplies for us please?” The master asked.

The young man nodded before disappearing.

“I must firstly apologize for my Padawan, his actions were way out of line. He will be reprimanded for his behaviour, not to worry.” Obi-Wan told her.

“Oh no no. Please, that’s not necessary. It’s all my fault actually. I have been on the run for two days and when I saw him I instantly thought of the worse. You see, I wasn’t sure any help would even come.” The girl explained has Kenobi examined her wounds. “I only hoped the republic would care about our valuable assets enough to not let them be taken away by thugs.”

The man lifted his attention to the girl’s face as she studied him. He found nothing to say for a moment. She was right, if it wasn’t for the monetary value she and her family’s company carried, the republic probably wouldn’t have poked it’s nose it it. But if it was true and an abundance of Kyber crystal had been found, they couldn’t let the deposit fall into the wrong hands.

Under normal circumstances, the Jedi wouldn’t have cared. But the girl before him, a complete stranger no less, was actually his sister. He somehow felt for a moment what Anakin had described so many times; that invisible connection between members of the same family. He quickly brushed the feeling aside as he got up to fetch some water from inside the well.

“Lady Kenobi!” A young girl’s voice shouted as she ran towards the Kenobis, Anakin trailing behind.

“Reinar!” The older girl replied.

As the child approached, she was carrying bottles with her that she set aside the pair.

“Master Skywalker said you needed healing so I came as quick as I could.” The little girl sat next to her, dropping the bottles to the ground.

“You are too kind, dear.” The Lady replied with a small laugh.

Reinar was the daughter of her beloved nanny. Her parents had had her quite late in their life and so needed a pair of extra hands to deal with her as well as the company. When she had learned, not long after she had outgrown the need for a nanny that Mrs Magrid was finally having a child of her own, she was often came to visit them to make sure they had everything they needed. And so, Reinar had grown to be the sibling she never had.

Well, actually, she did have a sibling. Growing up, her parents always were raving on about their first born son who had gone on to become a master Jedi. In fact, they constantly talked about him, how much of an honour it was for them to have a Jedi in their family. She felt like her whole life she was compared to this stranger she had never met while her parents went on about this and that exploit they had heard their son had done. She knew, deep inside her, they only decided to have another child after it was certain their son had a place amongst the Jedi. They had always hoped he would come back, she knew that for a fact. But when the brother was officially accepted into the order as a padawan, her parents finally resigned to replace him.

Anakin approached as well, giving the bandages he was holding to his master.

“Help me clean her wounds, will you?” Obi-Wan demanded.

As both of them got to work, the little brunette leaned into the older girl’s ear.

The redhead bit her lip to contain her smile. She whispered back to her friend.

Anakin tried to ignore the giggling next to him, but he could feel both girls’ eyes on him.

What is it with girls in this place? He taught to himself.

Then again, he never really interacted with girls his age, only politicians, diplomats and Jedis.

“You’re jesting, my Lady.” Reinar gasped as the redhead laughed, nodding.

Anakin looked up at the girls, an amused grin on his face, eager to know what all the giggling was about.

He raised an eyebrow at the older one of the two, questioning her with his eyes.

She smirked back at the boy, taunting him, refusing to reveal her secret.

He softly raised a hand to her face as the girl’s expression widened. She observed closely as he reached in her long locks and retrieved a twig from her curls, just above her ear. 

He reached with his other hand to turn over the hand that was resting in her lap, softly unfolding her fingers. Never taking his eyes away from hers he set down the twig in her hand.

She flushed again as he gave her another one of those charming teeth baring smiles.

“I don’t believe we’ve actually introduced each other.” He spoke up. “I’m Anakin Skywalker.” His hand lingered on the twig in her hand. His rough fingers tickled her palms as he retrieved his hand.

She swallowed thickly, suddenly finding her throat dry. “Fawnrielle Kenobi.” She started. “But you already knew that.” She continued, regaining her composure.

She reluctantly peeled her eyes away from the Padawan to look at his master.

Both men exchanged a look she couldn’t quite decipher.

“And I am Obi-Wan.” The blonde man cleared his throat. “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”


	3. Peaches & Basil

“O-.. Ob- … Keno-“ The girl stuttered, blinking rapidly then frowning.

Both Jedi could feel the thoughts racing in her head.

She glanced back and forth between the two men before bringing her focus back on the master.c 

As a short nervous laugh escaped her lips, she quickly slapped a hand to her mouth.

Both men didn’t dare talk.

“Reinar, dear, would you give us a minute please?”

“Of course, my Lady.” She gave her elder a small bow before leaving the group.

Fawnrielle’s eyes were now fixated on neither men. Her expression was blank as she stared somewhere off into the distance.

She opened her mouth to talk but promptly closed it again. Her eyes darted back to Kenobi: “You mean… my.. you’re-“ She started, unable to finish.

“Brother, yes.” Obi-Wan completed.

She didn’t know what to think. Laugh? Rejoice? Her who thought she now had no family left, here had returned the prodigal son. When she asked for help she most certainly did not think they would send her brother.

The thought of it all was just too absurd. Where do you even go from there?

Reading the room, Anakin quietly got up from his spot, giving a small pat to his friend’s shoulder then jogging to join the girl that had just left.

The reunited siblings starred at each other for a minute.

“You look exactly like father.” She finally broke the silence.

“It’s a shame, I’m sor-“

“Sorry?” She cut him off. “Sorry about what? That you never knew them? That they’re dead now? That I know you can’t care? That all these years my parents always tried to make me live up to your greatness even though you didn’t even remember them, didn’t even know I existed?” The words gushed out of her mouth before she could even have a chance to even think about them.

Of all the ways she had pictured herself actually meeting him, this certainly never came up to mind.

“I suppose I deserve that. In some way.” The Jedi simply said.

“See, that’s the problem with you Jedis. Always saying the seemingly right thing but never actually meaning it. You’re diplomatic emotionless droids.” She sighed, getting up. “I need a minute.”   
She said as she walked away.

Obi-Wan let her be, but kept his eyes on the girl still, making sure she didn’t leave his sight as she walked to a nearby pasture.

Not far from there, also keeping an eye on the situation, was Anakin.

He could sense the frustration emanating from the girl as she got up and walked away.

Pondering for a moment if he should intervene or not, he eventually excused himself from Reinar.

He cautiously approached the redhead, not wanting to be too intrusive.

She was simply standing there, looking away into the field in front of her, twisting in her hands the twig Anakin had found in her hair. The girl seemed far lost in thought.

He stood next to her for a moment, making sure she was aware of his presence before speaking up. “Is everything alright, Lady Kenobi?” He asked in a hushed voice as to not spook her.

She let out a sight, peeling her eyes away from the animals to look at him. “Oh I shall be fine.” She gave him a small smile. “I do appreciate your kindness though, master Skywalker.” 

He smiled back at her. “Oh you flatter me my Lady, but I’m not a master Jedi… not yet anyway.” He leaned on his elbows over the fence in front of them. “You can call me Anakin.”

“Anakin it is then.”

She was about to speak again, but the young man beat her to it. “I really don’t mean to pry my Lady, but I can sense something troubling your mind. So I must ask again. Is something the matter?”

She slightly frowned at him, uncertain if he genuinely cared or again, if it was only the diplomacy speaking. After all, why would he care about what she thought. 

She became suspicious for a second. “You can read my mind?” 

The young padawan let out a small laugh, cocking his head a her, amused. “No, no of course not. And even if I could that, it wouldn’t really be polite now would it?” 

The girl blushed slightly.

“No, see. Through the force that connects us all, us Jedis, can feel the fluctuations in every living and inanimate thing. Kind of like the different vibrations on the chords of a harp if you will.” He straightened himself back up. “Different emotions in us have different vibrations of different strengths and patterns. Usually, the darker the feeling, the looser the vibrations, like a low frequency hum.” The Padawan explained, drawing waves in the air with his fingers. “The lighter the feelings, the tighter the vibrations, like the buzzing of a bee.” He twitched his hand quickly. “Now the stronger the feelings, the stronger the vibrations and in turn the harder to ignore.” The young man licked his lips as he spoke. “We learn as Jedis to tune into those vibrations. When completely in tune with them, we can associate different vibrations to different feelings.” He gently reached down in her hand to grab the twig between her fingers. “And also what we call disturbances.” He snapped the twig in half. “A sudden break or skip in a vibration.” He gave her back the twig. “Of course there’s more to it. But in short that’s it.” 

She was listening attentively now, her eyes looking into his’, soon onto his hands, soon onto his lips as he spoke.

“So no, to answer your question. I can’t read your mind, but I can feel through the force that links us, like a spider on it’s web, the vibrations coming from your thread.” 

She stayed silent, entranced by his words.

He smirked as an idea popped into his head. “So if I do this.” He brushed some hair behind her ear, the sudden touch almost making her jump backwards in surprise. “I can sense the sudden shift   
in your thoughts.”

She blushed furiously.

“Please!” She cried out. “You’re taunting me now.” She pleaded as she whipped her head the other way, hiding her face.

She winced, squinting hard as she tried to calm her suddenly thundering heart.

Anakin took a step back, perplexed. “I’m sorry I-“

“We should head back, your Master will be wondering what you’re doing.” She quickly announced before spinning around, marching back to Kenobi.

As they both arrived back to where they had originally left the master, the latter raised an eyebrow. What had Anakin done again? He pondered as Fawnrielle walked with a definite step towards him, cheeks flushed.

“So, master Kenobi, what is your plan?” She questioned as she reached him.

Well, whatever he had done, she had seemed to have forgotten their awkward prior encounter, which was fine by him.

“Uh-I-“ He was taken a bit shaken by the sudden question, looking to his padawan for any clues. 

Skywalker shrugged, his eyes wide as he looked from side to side in a “don’t ask me” way.

“Well, the first thing we should do is try to find you a change of clothes, a warm dinner and a good night’s sleep, I suppose.” He pondered.

As he spoke the words, she only now realized how she had forgotten her own hunger and physical state.

The adrenaline and fear had kept her going for the past 2 days. But now that she had a moment to think about it, she was starving and weakened by the definitive lack of sleep. She was also   
suddenly aware of how tense all of her body was, she had to mentally tell herself to drop her shoulders. Her body ached and longed to relax. 

“You’re right.” She sighed. “That would be much appreciated. But where?” 

“Our ship is stationed in a field nearby.” Anakin cut in. “We don’t really have lady’s clothes but we might have something laying around.” He gave her a small smile, still not understanding what   
had just happened between them but hoping she wouldn’t hold it against him for two long. “Oh! Which reminds me!”

He leaned over by the well where Kenobi was still sitting. He reached down into his satchel on the ground to retrieve the shoes they had found earlier.

He presented them to her.

“Are those?” She frowned. “Are those my shoes?” She let out a small laugh as she reached for the shoes in Anakin’s hands. “I..” She bit her lip, lifting her eyes to meet his’. “Thank you.”

She didn’t really have any use for them anymore as she had borrowed simple leather boots from Mrs Magrid and heels weren’t really practical to roam around Forrests. But she appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

“You’re welcome.” He smiled back at her before sending a proud smirk to his master.

Obi-Wan got up. “Alright kids, I suppose we should make our way back now, before the sun sets.” He announced.

“Of course.” The girl replied. “I should probably go say my goodbyes to Mrs Magrid and Reinar first though. I also need to pick up the supplies they have kindly accepted to lend me.” She added.

Anakin stepped forward. “Do you need help?”

“Oh no, I shall be alright.” Fawnrielle answered with a smile. With that, she courteously nodded at Kenobi before making her way.

Once alone, the two Jedis packed up their things, preparing to leave. 

“What happened over there?” Kenobi asked, raising an eyebrow at his padawan.

“Well I could ask you the same thing.” The padawan replied, grabbing the bandages they had used earlier and putting them in his bag. They might need those later.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well not long after she found out who you were and I left, it only took a few minutes before she ran away from you.” He chuckled as he added. “I can’t blame her though.” The master rolled his   
eyes at his comment. “What did you say to her, she seemed… distraught.” 

Obi-Wan sighted. “All I can say is that she did not rejoice in the revelation of our relatedness.” 

Anakin nodded in understandment.

“But she came back blushing from whatever you said to her.” Kenobi added, curious to know what could have happened by that fence.

“I simply.. I don’t know.. I said something and she got flustered but-“ He tried to explain.

“Oh don’t think I haven’t noticed your gawking, Anakin.”

The Padawan very badly faked surprise. “Whatever do you mean by that?”

The master laughed. “You think I was born yesterday? Listen, I understand you are going through plenty of changes moving from childhood into adulthood, bu-“

“Master!” Anakin intervened.

“But you must learn to suppress those feelings.” He ignored the plaints of his padawan. “You must learn to control those urges just as the rest. How can you expect to keep a clear mind and-“

“Ready?” A female voice spoke up, almost making the two men jump. 

Facing the well, they hadn’t noticed Fawnrielle coming back from her errand.

There she stood, a hand on her hip. She had gotten rid of her soiled dress and was now wearing a simple linen shift dress and pants. Her red hair was now all up, braided in a single bun at the nape of her neck with only a few strands of loose hair shaping her face. “Gossiping were we now?” She raised an eyebrow at the two men as they turned around. 

They just stared at her for a moment like two children caught stealing cookies from the jar.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Let’s go gentlemen.” 

The two men didn’t have to be told twice as they started making their way back to the ship.

They walked in silence for a few minutes as they marched through the forrest.

Obi-Wan was the first one to speak up after a while. “So, in order for us to make a clear plan of attack, do you think you could relate everything that’s happened for us, everything you can recall?”

They walked in a single file, Obi-Wan leading, Fawnrielle in the middle and Anakin closing the march.

“well.” She started. “About a week ago, as I mentioned in the hologram I sent. Our miners discovered while dynamiting, the entrance to a cave that contains massive amounts of pure Kyber. It’s the farthest we’ve ever been and our scientists believe there might be much more to discover if we dig this deep all over the planet.” She explained.

“Jewton is a mining colony of the Republic, I think, right?” Anakin asked.

“Yes, there is no senator or king or such. So we are under direct authority of Coruscant. My-.. our family has been on the foreground of the mining industry for almost 2 centuries now. So much as we now own smaller companies or buy and resell the products of independent miners. Our contacts permit us to have the monopoly on all exports from Jewton. We never really sealed in high valuable materials before, we extract in large quantities all over the planet regular materials, so we were never at danger of such events before. What I’m confused about is how the news got out so quick since only the employee from that one mine and us knew about the deposit. Well, and the officials we deal with on Coruscant.”

She interrupted her explanation for a moment as they reached the lake where she had spend the night. “N-3?” She shouted as she jogged towards where both men had found her belongings earlier during the day.

“Are you looking for the droid?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Yes!” She shouted back at them as she started lifting branches expecting to find her droid. “He’s a, N series, 3PO type droid! He powered down somewhere around here. Oh I hope he didn’t get taken or anything.” 

“He’s fine.” Anakin informed her as he approached the worried girl. “Well… He will be fine once I repair him. He’s on board our ship. I had my droid come fetch him.”

“You know how to repair droids?” She asked.

“Oh yes.” He chuckled. “I used to build droids growing up. I actually built a C series 3PO from spare parts when I was 9.” He pondered a moment. “I left him with my mother to take care of her when-“

“Your droid was heavily damaged when we found it.” Obi-Wan cut in. “But he had no signs of blasts on him. How did this happen?” 

She turned her attention to the master as they all resumed their trek through the woods. The sun was starting to lower behind the mountain range. Behind the tree’s canopy, it was early nightfall.

“Well I was getting to that…” She started to recall but was suddenly interrupted as she tripped on a hidden vine, almost colliding with her brother’s back.

“Are you alright?” Asked Anakin as he reached forward to stabilize her, but the girl had already regained her balance.

“Well I don’t know for you but, I don’t have magical Jedi sight.” She grimaced. “It’s actually getting quite dark.” 

“Oh.” Both men said as they realized.

Obi-Wan reached for his lightsaber and ignited it, bathing the surrounding forrest in a luminous green hue. “Better?”

Fawnrielle let out an appreciative sigh. “Yes much better. Now, as I was trying to say. As you know, 2 days ago, our city was under attack. It must have been mid-afternoon when I first heard the blasters and screaming coming from inside the castle. I was in the gardens, reading when it happened.” She told them as 

“Castle?” Obi-wan repeated.

“Well yes the Kenobi estate, I fear there is not much left of it now though. You see, as I heard the commotion inside I froze right where I was. Confused and paralyzed by fear I-“ She paused to   
draw in a shaky breath. “I.. We obviously have droid guards and such but the scream I heard.. I.. I’m most certain it was my mother. I wanted to go and..” She drew in another breath.

Both Jedis could feel her emotions building up as she spoke.

“I.. I was so scared. I wanted to run inside and.. and save…” The girl paused again there. “But I waited too long..” 

Sensing her obvious distress, Anakin walked up from behind her to be next to her. 

He laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, there is nothing more you could have done.” 

In the glow created by his master’s lightsaber he could see the streak of tears rolling down her face.

The group came to a halt as Fawnrielle stopped walking for a moment, violently sobbing into her hands.

Obi-Wan held his lightsaber over the girl, looking upon her as he tried to find a way to console her. Despite what she thought, Jedis weren’t emotionless bastards. They valued before all, compassion towards all life forms, but putting it into action had never been Obi-Wan’s strong suit. Until Anakin came along. 

He hated to admit, but where he failed, his padawan excelled. Anakin always seemed to have the words to reassure and console others, it’s his closeness to his emotions that made him a formidable Jedi, but also threatened to be his downfall.

Often the padawan found himself caring just a little too much, letting in much more emotions than just empathy. He had still much to learn.   
Unlike most.. well, online all the other Jedis before him, Anakin had been only discovered by the age of 9. The first stages of his development almost fully complete, if it had been any other force sensitive children there would have been no questions about it. By that age, any child would be refused as future Jedi seeing as their attachments and emotions would have been unbridled for too long, they would have have developed strong character values that may not coincide with those of the Jedi. But in Anakin’s case, his talent was far too grand to be ignored. He possessed far more of the force inside him than any Jedi before him. But as he grew up, the fears that had almost counterweighted his acceptance in the order were starting to slowly come to life. His individuality made him a ticking bomb.

“Hush now child.” Obi-wan spoke softly to her as he liberated her face from her hands. He lifted her chin up to look at him. “There is nothing you could have done, and you know that to be true.”

The girl closed her eyes forcefully, chasing the tears from her eyes as her bottom lip quivered.

“Anakin, lend her your cloak will you?” He said as he released Fawrielle’s chin.

“Of course, master.” The apprentice replied, instantly shedding the cloak from his body.

The girl let out a long sigh as he settled the heavy piece of clothing on her shoulders.

“Now, we should be at the ship in 10 minutes or so. Can you keep going?” Kenobi asked, still holding the lightsaber above her head.

“Yes.” She nodded faintly.

“Here.” He took the bag she was carrying from her shoulder. “Let’s get going now.”

And with that, the trio resumed their way though the forrest.

Just as Obi-Wan had predicted, only a few minutes later they were reaching the edge of the woods.

The sun was fully nestled behind the mountains by now, it’s last few dying rays rendering the horizon into a world of shadows.

As they were stepping into the flowery meadow master Kenobi suddenly shut off his lightsaber as he crouched in the high herbs. 

“Get down.” He instructed the teens.

Though greatly confused, both Anakin and Fawnrielle followed his order without question.

“Do you see what I see?” Obi-Wan asked his padawan as the latter approached him, still coaching in the herbs.

The young man focused for a minute onto the ship in the distance. Then he saw it, two faint lights were approaching from the left side of the ship. “Mmm. That’s not good.”

The girl approached as well. Unable to see what they were, she inquired about it.

“Looks like our ship has been discovered. I fear they might be looking for you my Lady.” The senior told her.

Fawnrielle’s heart skipped as she felt fear rise inside her. 

Sensing her nervousness, Anakin offered her a reassuring smile in the semi-darkness.

He gently placed a hand on her forearm. “Worry not, my Lady. If indeed there is only two of them, they should be easy to deal with.” He told her.

“Right. Now. My young apprentice, how would you go about this?” The teacher asked his student.

“Well master. I would ask Lady Kenobi to wait for us here where’d she’d be safe. Then I’d go up to these men and see what they want. And then try to send them off on their merry way.” Anakin   
answered simply.

“Good, let’s get to it then.” Kenobi announced getting up.

“Wait, no.” Fawnrielle interjected. 

Both men who were standing up looked down upon the girl.

“I.. I don’t wanna stay here alone.” She pleaded.

Obi-Wan frowned. “If these men are looking for you, you most definitely have to stay here. What seems to be the problem?” 

“I..” The girl started again but the words got cut in her throat.

Truth is, she was scared of staying alone there in the darkness. She had spent her whole life surrounded by family or friends or a droid. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn’t very brave.   
She thought she was… Until she literally stood still has her parents were slaughtered meters away. She had never been taught to shoot a blaster or fight or anything of the such.

“What if you don’t come back?” She asked quietly, almost to herself as she looked down in the grass.

Anakin smiled at her though she couldn’t see. “Oh no. Rest assured. I don’t know about my master but, I personally have all the reasons to come back to you… For my cloak.” He joked, hoping it would lift her spirits a little bit.

It didn’t really work but the girl humoured him nonetheless. “Very well.” She sighed, trying to calm her nerve. “Be quick, the both of you.”

The pair nodded courteously as they made their way to the Republic cruiser to meet the strangers.

Fawnrielle sat back in the grass, watching the two men leave as she hugged Anakin’s cloak closer to her body. She took a deep breath in to calm her nerves. The fabric smelled a mix of fresh dug up earth, something sweet and fruity like peaches and just a subtle hint of basil. She closed her eyes, momentarily at ease as she breathed in the young man’s scent.

Breathing in again, she felt her cheeks warm up as she pictured his face. She couldn’t help the attraction that she was developing for the young Jedi, and it didn’t help he was mercilessly teasing her by flirting with her. She wasn’t even sure he knew what he was doing. Weren’t Jedis forbidden to have romances and such? Mmm. Romances no but what about sex? She sighed as it dawned upon her.

Romances and being tied down no. But frolicking around here and there without attachment yes. The Jedi was probably only trying to bed her.

Such a shame. She thought, for she thought he was quite attractive and adorable.

Perhaps she would maybe indulge for a night with him. Perhaps. 

Lost in thought, imagining multiple scenarios in which the young Jedi would do various unholy things to her, she hadn’t noticed her two saviours coming back her way.

“Lady Kenobi!?” Anakin called out in the darkness. 

Shocked back into reality, the girl shot up from within the grass like a rodent coming out of it’s burrow. 

“They’re gone?” She asked looking around as she made her way towards them.

“Yes. As it turns out they were simply from a village nearby who saw our ship land and decided to investigate. Nothing to be worried about.” Obi-Wan lied.

The men they had encountered were definitely looking for Fawnrielle but a few jedi mind tricks later and they were easily gone. There was no need to worry the girl furthermore. Anakin disagreed,   
but Obi-Wan convinced him, in the mental state she was, she was more use to them when calm than worried.

“Oh fantastic.” She sighed in relief now standing by the men’s sides.

“Everything alright?” Skywalker asked her. As the cargo bay door hissed open, the light from within the ship illuminating her face. He could see the pink hue covering her cheeks. “You’re blushing.”

“Mm? What?” She looked at him confused. “Oh- um, yes. It’s um.” She fanned her face with her hand. “Those cloaks are just really really warm aren’t they, uh? So hot.”

Anakin smirked sensing her heart accelerate as she cleared her throat.

She stepped first onto the deck, ignoring him to be be immediately greeted by a joyful R2D2.

He rolled right past her and chimed happily at Anakin.

She giggled at the droid. “Oh my blast! How adorable is this little one?”

R2 whistled in reply rolling by his maker’s side as him and Obi-Wan entered the ship.

“That’s R2D2.” Skywalker replied. “He was given to me by an old friend of mine. Do not underestimate him, he’s a valiant fighter.” He told the girl. “Come, I’ll show you around.”

It was a standard consular-class cruiser. They walked around for a bit chit-chatting about this and that as they went around the ship. Both lower and upper decks were lined with bunk beds whilst the main deck had the kitchen, bathroom, sitting, storage and cockpit.

“I’ve never been on a ship like this before.” She revealed to Anakin as they settled onto one of the benches that were surrounding the table in the kitchen. “I’ve actually very rarely been on a flying ship at all.”

A few feet away, working on their meals, Obi-Wan spoke up. “Well, I wouldn’t recommend having Anakin as your pilot, he’s absolutely reckless.” 

The latter scoffed at his master, getting up to help him with their plates. “Whatever do you mean? I am an excellent pilot, always have.” He argued, grabbing the food from his hands.

The master raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s maybe what you think, but everyone on board is hanging on for their lives when you’re the one flying.” He quipped back at him.

Anakin laughed at the remark while he put his’ and Fawnrielle’s plates down as he settled next to her. “That’s because you hate flying.” He told him before turning to lean in the girl’s ear. “Don’t   
worry. I’ll take you on a stroll sometimes, you’ll see.”

Sitting in front of the pair, Kenobi used his spoon to aim it at the girl. “Please don’t.” He said gravely. “If you’re attached to the world of living. Do not fly with him. Especially not on a speeder.” He cautioned.

The redhead laughed as she stuffed her face, amused by the men arguing but also starving.

“Why do I sense a story here?” She said as she covered her full mouth with her hand in politeness. 

Anakin smirked resting his arm on the backrest of the bench behind her with nonchalance waiting for his master to start rambling about his flying.

He angled his body towards the girl, raising his eyebrows and eyes to the sky before pointing at Kenobi as a cue for his master to start talking, like a rehearsed skit.

She looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“Oh dear. I don’t even know where to begin. There’s the constant crushing speed, the barrel rolls, the dead stops, the 90 degrees dives, the blaring music, OH AND NOT TO FORGET THE JUMPING OUT OF THE VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING?” He yelled out at his apprentice.

Skywalker burst out laughing as the girl nearly choked on her pottage.

“What do you mean?” She asked Kenobi incredulously.

“I mean literally stop in the middle of traffic and jump out of the speeder thousands of feet off the ground.”

By then, Anakin was hunching over with laughter.

“But why even?” The girl said, shocked.

“Exactly!! Why even?!” Obi-Wan exclaimed, throwing his hands to the sky in exasperation.

“To catch the bad guys, obviously!” The padawan answered as he tried to calm down his laughter.

“Mmm. Obviously.” The girl smiled at him rolling her eyes.

A smile he reciprocated.

His master shook his head in disapproval. “You have issues my dear apprentice.” 

Not taking his eyes off the girl, Anakin asked. “What do you think? Do I?”

The girl bit her lip. “I mean, you nearly crushed me to death within the first seconds of us meeting so.” She smirked.

“Whatever do you mean by that?” He raised his eyebrows at the girl. “Mmm. Perhaps, but who ran away first? Uh?” He questioned, leaning in closer, challenging her.

She scooted away from him on the seat. “I thought you wanted to kidnap me.. or kill me!” Fawnrielle yelled out in disbelief.

The boy leaned back. “Fine. Fine.” He held up his hands in defence.

“Stop bickering and eat your food, the two of you.” Kenobi ordered them.

The two teens looked at him offended. “Mere seconds ago you were the one bickering, master.” Anakin argued.

“Do not start with me young man.” Obi-Wan warned, threatening him with his spoon again.

Anakin smirked back at him before eventually following his master’s orders and resuming his meal.  
The group stayed silent as they ate, but Kenobi could see the pair stealing glances at each other ever so often. He rolled his eyes internally. Part of him wanted to reprimand his padawan, warn him to not go down that route. But the other part of him told him that would be being a hypocrite seeing as even himself had been in his place before.

Even him, one of the most rule-strict Jedi in the order, had been in love. Oh he was just as young and foolish as Anakin, raging from inside with all of his teenage hormones. Just as Anakin, he had been sent on a mission to protect the Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze. She was and would always remain for him, the love of his life. A blonde and tall goddess, with a fiery temper and heart of gold. He would have followed her to the edges of the world, even quit the order for her. But alas, after keeping their relationship secret for a long time and even after being engaged to each other, they decided to end their love affair. Thinking about it always made Obi-Wan’s heart clench, even after years, his heart still longed for the woman, her piercing blue eyes, her soft lips. He would lie if he said that he was all over it now. Over the years, he had built the capacity to completely overlook his feelings in order to serve his duties as Jedi. But even though now most things didn’t even manage to make him feel any type of way, just hearing her name in a conversation could make him yearn for her.

As he looked at the pair in front of him, his heart tightened again. He remembered- how could he forget- how it felt: the stolen glances, the temptative flirting, the nervousness, the obsession to have and to hold every piece of that one person. He decided to let the kids have fun for a while. But would have to make sure it only stayed a flirt and nothing more. He didn’t want his padawan to live the same heartbreak, especially since Anakin was much more prone than him to give into his feelings.

Once they had finished eating their meal, the night was still young, but Fawnrielle, absolutely exhausted, decided to head to bed first.

After a long and well deserved shower, she met the two men in the common room for a last few words before excusing herself for the night.

“I feel like I’m about to pass out any minute. Aren’t you guys ever affected by the time difference from one planet to the other?” She asked.

Her long hair hung completely loose, still damp. She was wearing the same shift dress as before as she held Anakin’s cloak folded onto her arm.

Both men were participating in a game of chess when she approached them.

“Mmm. Not really. We try to leave Coruscant and arrive at times that would coincide with our normal schedules. Or else we try to not stay too long.” Kenobi explained keeping his eyes on the game.

“Or you can take naps. Napping helps a lot.” Anakin added as he rose from his chair. “Master, if I come back and a single one of those pieces has even as much as just been corrupted by your thoughts, I will know. And there will be hell to pay.” The padawan warned before turning to the girl. “If you may come with me, I found some clothes that might fit you and should be more comfortable to sleep in.”

“Oh, that’s really kind.” She told him before turning to the master Jedi, giving him a small bow. “Good night, Master Kenobi.”

“Good night, Lady Kenobi.” He replied as both exchanged an awkward look.

Should they be calling each other by their first names? Since they were siblings? At the same time they were still merely just strangers.

Shaken out of thought, she followed Anakin as he led her to the upper deck where the girl would be sleeping.

He had placed on one of the beds a warm duvet along with a few articles of clothing. 

“It’s not much, but it’ll be much more comfortable than my old scratchy wool cloak.” He gave her a small smile, leaning against the frame of the bunk beds.

“Thank you.” She smiled back at him. “And I actually quite liked your cloak, I found it rather comfortable.” She said as she presented it to him.

They both locked eyes for a moment as Anakin gently took the fabric from between her hands. His eyes darted from her brown ones to her lips for a split second.

He inhaled sharply, chasing the thoughts that had crept up his mind. He straightened himself up and bowed down to her. “Good night, my Lady.” He nearly whispered before turning around.

“Wait.” Fawnrielle stopped him. “Um.. And where will you be sleeping? I mean you and master Kenobi?” She asked bitting her lips.

“We’ll be sleeping, on the lower deck, don’t worry, nothing will happen so long as we’re here.” He smiled at her, hoping to reassure her.

She inhaled nervously, words at the tip of her tongue, but was unable to pronounce them.

Sensing this, Anakin spoke up again. “If you want I can send R2 to keep you company throughout the night. If anything happens, he will inform me directly through this com link.” He said as he showed her his ear piece.

“Thank you. Anakin. Sincerely.” She smiled back at him.

He nodded at her. “Of course.” And with that, left to return to his master.

Once alone, the girl sat on her modest bed as she sighed. Her day was starting to greatly weight her body down as she fought to find the motivation to go and change.

Eventually getting up after a solid minute, she made her way to the bathroom where she inspected the clothes Skywalker had given her. They were indeed not much, but would be much more   
comfortable than the rough linen she was wearing: it was a modest chiffon nightgown and an oversized shawl made of some white fluffy yarn. When she came out of the bathroom, R2D2 was rolling up to her bed. 

She closed the lights and nestled under the duvet. The lights coming from the droid’s body casted soft blue shadows across the room.

“Good night, little one.” She whispered as she patted his head.

The small robot chimed happily in response as the girl closed her eyes.


	4. The Moons Above

Awoken by a bad dream, Fawnrielle groaned as she rolled over in her small bed. 

Ever since that day, it seemed every time she closed her eyes, she found herself standing in the garden again. Every time was different though, but somehow would always end up the same: in failure. Some times she would be running towards the sound of the screams as the castle would slowly shrink in the distance until she couldn’t see it anymore. Some times she would just be frozen onto place as her mother screamed out her name.

The girl laid on her back in the pitch black darkness of night waiting for sleep to wash over her again.

Just as she was slowly feeling herself drifting back, she jolted back up as she heard a loud thud coming from the deck right below her.

She almost screamed in fright, clutching her knees to her chest.

The droid next to her bed instantly awoke as well. He chirped as he rolled towards the passage to the lower floor.

“R2 wait!” She whisper-shouted at him in the darkness.

The droid chimed again as it looked back at her then started down the corridor.

She waited a few moments in complete silence.

Holding her breath, she tried to focus her hearing to the deafening silence, in the search of any sign of an intruder.

“Oh hello, R2.” She finally heard a voice in the distance as the droid whistled in happiness.

She sighed as she recognized the voice to be Anakin’s.

She threw the covers off her body, dragging herself out of bed.

She walked cautiously to the lower deck, wrapping her shawl around her frame.

The lights in the kitchen were dimmed as Anakin sat at the table whilst looking at something on the electronic device before him. His tall hands were wrapped around a steaming mug as he read.

Sensing her approaching, the boy lifted his head to meet her eyes. “Oh I’m so sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you?” He apologized, frowning, as he got up from his seat.

The redhead yawned as she slowly walked towards him.

“Oh no, I couldn’t sleep long before that.” She told him, forcefully closing her eyes before blinking rapidly as she tried to get her eyes accustomed to the light again. The boy before her was dressed with an ample shirt and trousers made of a thin, beige linen. 

“Me and R2 heard a noise, what happened?” She asked him.

Anakin let out an awkward laugh as he scratched the back of his neck. “I sort of took a tumble, I didn’t want to open the lights to not wake anyone… You would think that with Jedi senses and all that I wouldn’t be so clumsy but..” He confessed shyly.

“Yes you seem to do quite a lot of tumbling, don’t you?” She smiled back at him as she brushed past him to go sit at the table.

“Now you’re just being mean, my Lady.” He pouted as he watched her, playfully crossing his arms over his chest.

She hugged her knees to her chest as she looked at him still standing there. Shaped by the shadows created by the dim light, she could see the outline of his body through his clothing.

She patted the seat next to her, inviting him to sit down again.

“What were you reading?” She inquired, nudging her chin towards the gadget as he settled next to her.

The boy closed the device. “Oh, just looking up some information.” He said before leaning onto his elbow, resting his chin in his hand and angling his body towards her. “But tell me, if I didn’t wake you, how come you’re not sleeping?’

Fawnrielle sighed as she leaned her head back on the backrest, looking at the ceiling. “Nightmares.” She simply answered. “What about you?” 

He nodded in understanding. “Well, ever since a child, every once a while I seem to find myself having extremely light sleep.” He explained simply. 

The truth is, Anakin’s sensitivity to the force made him all too well aware of the world around him. Since there is no off-switch for his talents, the boy often found himself dreaming about disturbances in the force or premonitions. Some nights all he could hear were screams, genocides, the births and deaths of stars. That night he had drifted into peaceful sleep before being awoken by just another troubling dream.

“I made this tea, I find it helps me sleep better.” He said as he showed her his mug. “Would you like some?” The boy offered.

The girl turned her head towards him, looking into his blue eyes. She couldn’t tell if it was just the shadows, but she could see the dark circles stretching down onto his cheeks. She gave him a small smile. “Sure. That would be nice.” 

As soon as the words left her mouth, the boy promptly got up to prepare it for her.

The kitchen counters being behind her, she turned her body so she was now sitting on her knees on the bench, her elbows and head resting on the backrest as she watched the padawan. She observed his tall and lean figure moving about. Observed as the hem of his shirt exposed the toned skin of his stomach as he reached up in the cupboards. Observed through the thin fabric as the muscles of his shoulders contracted underneath. Smiled as she starred at the adorably dorky little ponytail that started at the middle of the back of his skull. 

She sighed as she kept on looking. He was such an attractive young man, yes despite the hair. She had only dated boys briefly before, oh they were silly little affairs, stolen kisses in the garden, blushing over studies. But the feelings she was feeling now were new. He wasn’t   
just a boy, and she wasn’t just a girl anymore.

She must have been starring for a few solid minutes when Anakin turned around, his eyes meeting her staring ones, her beverage in his hand.

He smirked at her as he cocked his head to the side, giving her a quizzical look.

Feeling her cheeks flushing from being caught gawking, she instantly turned around, sitting back properly on the bench.

Anakin chuckled to himself, he thought it was the most adorable thing. Somehow every time he looked at her he felt intrigued, he wanted to know more, wanted to know everything. He just felt this urge, this rush of questions flowing through his mind, through his body, to   
know everything about her, every thought… every inch as well.

He was cautiously walking back to the table with the hot tea in his hand when he felt it again, the familiar lighting bolt crawling under his skin.

The heat in the girl’s cheeks was rapidly taking over the rest of her body in embarrassment like she was being showered in lava. 

“Actually, would you care for some fresh air?” She spoke rapidly, as she got up with equal speed.

Caught up in her own thoughts, she hadn’t seen the boy was now standing next to the table as she sprung up from her seat.

“Fuck!” Anakin swore under his breath as her shoulder knocked into him, sending the mug and it’s contents sprawling across the floor. 

Quickly realizing her mistake, the redhead stopped sharply mid-movement, wincing as the mug hit the floor.  
But it didn’t. The Padawan had caught it with the force before it did.

She slowly turned around to face him, shame plastered across her features.

Half of his shirt was now damp as he just stared at her, eyes wide in surprise, one hand in the air controlling the mug. “There seems to be something wrong with the gravity between us.” He said pleasantly. 

The girl brought a hand up to her mouth, completely oblivious to his comment, eyebrows furrowed with worry. “I am so sorry.” She said trying to keep her eyes from darting down to his abdomen where the shirt now clung to his toned stomach.

“Oh don’t worry my Lady, it’ll dry.” He gave her a small smile as he settled the now empty mug back down on the table. “I do agree about the fresh air though.” He stepped back a little. “That tea was quite hot.” He informed her as he nonchalantly lifted his shirt to inspect his skin.

Fawnrielle froze for a second, staring again, was he doing this on purpose? 

She bit her lip, trying to focus. “Did it burn you?!” She asked worriedly. 

Anakin frowned as he ran his fingers over the area. He winced in pain, sucking the air through his teeth.

Now more worried and embarrassed than ever, she promptly leaned forward to examine him. “Anakin! I’m-“ 

“Gotcha!” The boy suddenly exclaimed as he flicked her nose upwards with his finger. “I’m only toying with you.” He smirked at her proudly. “Doesn’t hurt one bit.” 

The girl stepped back instantly as she looked up at him in frustration. She lightly slapped him across the stomach where his skin was still exposed. “You are terrible! I was worried! I thought I boiled you alive!” She whined. 

Anakin hunched over from her slap as he laughed. 

He watched her as she folded her arms across her chest, waiting for him to be done.

He pouted back at her “Aww, please don’t be mad at me.” He begged before offering her his elbow to take. “Let’s go for a walk now, shall   
we?” 

She rolled her eyes at him before wrapping her hand around his arm. “What about the mess?” She asked.

“Oh, R2 will take care of it, right buddy?” The boy replied as he grabbed his cloak from a seat nearby.

The small robot chirped in disapproval like a teenager groaning at the idea of doing a chore.

“I’ve never seen an astromech with such personality.” She commented, looking back at R2 getting to work as the pair started to make their way to the back of the ship.

“He is one of a kind indeed, I trust him with my life as well.” He told the girl.

She fell quiet for a moment as a look of concern washed over her features.  
Anakin read her face for a minute before speaking up just as they reached the door. “Don’t worry about your droid, I’ll get working on him as soon as possible.” He gave her a smile.

She reciprocated it, nodding in appreciation.

The door before them hissed as it slowly lowered down. The cool air entered the ship brushing their faces as they walked down the ramp.

Stepping down onto the soft grass, the boy retrieved his arm to put on his cloak. “Where to?” He asked the girl.

Walking forward into the night, Fawnrielle shrugged before turning back to look at him. 

The moons were shining brightly over the meadow, basking everything in shades of blue.

“Whichever way doesn’t matter, but I am not going back to the forrest.” She warned.

Anakin chuckled at that, approaching her as they walked out from underneath the shadow of the ship. “And why is that?” He questioned.

“The woods are scary.” She shivered, grimacing.

“I would protect you, of course.” The Jedi apprentice simply answered, smiling at her. 

She rolled her eyes at him playfully. “Of course you would.” 

The boy took offence at that, stopping her by gently grabbing her elbow. “Whatever do you mean by that?” He asked, brows furrowed.

She let out a small laugh, endeared by his concern. “Oh Anakin I’m only jesting.” 

“Are you sure?” He prompted again, raising a questioning eyebrow at her.  
She paused, calming her emotions as she looked into his blue eyes. “Yes” She answered sincerely.

The boy’s happy expression quickly returned as they both resumed their aimless walk.

They walked in silence for a while enjoying the peacefulness of the night.

Peace, that was something Anakin rarely got. Between the constant buzzing of coruscant, traveling on battleships or fighting the enemy, he rarely got a moment of quietness. Being a Jedi was absolutely everything he had dreamt of, don’t get him wrong, he absolutely loved the constant action… but also enjoyed these rare moments just as much.

Whilst Anakin looked at the stars above, lost in thought, Fawnrielle looked at the grass bellow, running her fingers along the long herbs and flowers.

She had always loved to tend to the gardens at home. The proof was in the botanical paradise that outstretched from behind the castle. Her grandfather had tended to it before her and it was hers now. She loved to spend her days in there, reading, making sure all the different flowers and plants were happy. She had even managed to grow some of the rarest flowers from the galaxy. She sighed as she realized most of it would most certainly all been walked over and destroyed when she would come back.

She plucked one of the many bell shaped indigo flowers that were growing all over the meadow. “You know.” She spoke up as Anakin turned to look at her. “I think you would look most dashing-“ Their walk came to halt again as she reached up to his face. The boy watched carefully as she placed the stem of purple flowers gently above his right ear. “Like this.” She smirked at him in satisfaction. “Compliments the braid.” She pointed to the small lock of hair that was trailing from behind his left ear and onto his shoulder.

He gave her an amused look, bitting his lip as he stared down at her.

The moonlight was hitting her pale skin making it almost glow in the darkness. His eyes trailed from her collarbones, up her neck to her lips.

“Are you mocking me?” He squinted at her, finally meeting her eyes.

By now she was smiling wide. “Oh I would never tease a mighty Jedi knight!” She exclaimed with a sarcastically horrified look.

He squinted furthermore, a grin slowly forming on his lips as a thought crossed his mind. “And I would never do this to a Lady.” He announced as he quickly brought both hands up to her face, reaching for her hair.

He rubbed his hands wildly through her vibrantly coloured mane, messing it up as she let out a surprised shout.

She fought his hands off her as he roared with laughter.

She stood there, infuriated as the young man pointed a finger at her face, hunched over in laughter.

He didn’t think it would work this well. “You.. look… like an electrified Wookiee!” He said between coughs of giggles.

She gasped. “How dare you!” She slapped him across the arm.

He kept laughing as he took as step back, holding up his arms in defence. “You’re definitely not as strong as one though.” 

“Oh yeah?” The girl taunted. “Why are you stepping back then?” She reached forward slapping him again, an evil grin on her face.

“Woah woah woah.” He couldn’t contain his laughter as he blocked her ongoing assaults, still walking backwards, away from her. “You’re deranged…”

“Come on Jedi!” She shouted, ignoring his comment. “Fight me like a man!” She lunged at him to push him.

He easily dodged her attack, jumping backwards. 

His eyes widened as he saw the girl now charging at him.

He quickly spun around and sprinted through the tall grass away from her.

She chased him as he taunted her, only dodging her at the last minute.

“I will catch you I swear!” She yelled, while Anakin was having a grand old time.

This was way more fun than getting chased by droids or bounty hunters. It was like playing hide and seek with a kitten.

He paused in front of her. “Alright catch me then.” He provoked her.

Just as the girl moved forward, he darted across the field.

Fawnrielle tried to pursue him as fast as she could, but quickly lost him after a minute.

“Come back!” She shouted as she panted, her breath forming small clouds of fog as it came into contact with the cold night air. “I’ll be nice I promise!” She sing sang playfully.

She waited for a moment in her spot, squinting her eyes as she searched through the darkness. When she couldn’t see the Jedi’s figure in the distance anymore, her smile faded as her heart started racing. 

“Anakin?!” She took a few more hesitant step forward. “Anakin?! Where are you?!” She continued walking, not sure if she should keep forward, stay in place or walk back to the ship.

She was halfway between the cruiser and the edge of the forrest.

He wouldn’t have gone into the woods, right? 

He knew she didn’t want to go back there, joke or not. 

She stood there for a few minutes more, looking around, calling his name out.

Her breath quickened as worry washed over her.

What if he needs help?

No, nonsense, he’s a jedi, he can handle himself surely.

She swallowed thickly, feeling suddenly dizzy. She watched as the tree line started swaying in the distance.

“Anakin!” She yelled frantically. “Anakin this isn’t funny!” She took a step back, feeling the air thicken in her lungs.

She stared at the flowers around her. There she was again, in the garden. Unable to move. Unable to help. Unable to do anything.

She blinked rapidly, losing balance. Everything spun around her. “Anakin!” She was now crying his name out.

Maybe this was just another dream, it sure felt like it. 

She tried to wake up, but couldn’t.

She fell down in the grass, clutching her knees to her chest, trying her best to breathe as she felt her chest shrinking on itself.

The darkness of the night engulfed her as her vision suddenly blurred with tears. She felt the cold wind hitting bitting at her back. 

She stayed there, unable to move, for what felt like an eternity, until a hand touched her shoulder.

She jumped, almost rolling out of the way in fright.

“My Lady, are you alright?” Anakin asked softly as he kneeled down next to her.

She looked up at him, eyes wide. She blinked, then again. It took her a solid moment to recognize the boy through the darkness and the   
tears.

“I- I don’t know what happened.. I- One minute- one minute I was fine and.. then I couldn’t see you. And then…” Fawnrielle stuttered, trying to make sense of what had just happened as she wiped the tears away from her cheeks.

“Hey hey, it’s okay now.” He shushed her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing to comfort her.

She relaxed into his side as she tried to bring her breathing back to normal.

She slowly came to understand now what her dreams meant. She was just a coward. Faced with adversity, her whole systems would just shut down. She was helpless. She couldn’t even save her herself, let alone her loved ones. This is what this was all about. But worse now, because she knew it was the truth. Her body had reacted that way, because it knew it was utterly useless.

She was never the brave kind, that was a fact. She was never the one to squash the bug or jump in the water first, she knew that. But she had hoped that at least she could be brave when it truly mattered? She felt as if the whole world had shifted now. Everything was a threat that she couldn’t face. She thought about all the things she would probably be too scared of doing even if it was a life or death situation. Now it was worse. Not only did doing nothing meant failing, but doing something would fail as well. That was the problem. What would she have done, back then? Run to the house? Fight off the attackers? She was just as strong as a twig…And then there was Anakin, a fearless Jedi who jumped out of moving speeders…

Looking down at her, the boy raised his other hand to try and brush her hair back into place after having messed it up earlier.

The girl scoffed between two sniffles. “I must look absolutely ravishing.” She said as she raised her hands to brush her hair as well.

The young Jedi leaned backwards to get a better look at her.

He pursed his lips, squinting in thought as he scrutinized her for a moment.

When he was finally done making up his mind, he turned her shoulders so she would face him. Now kneeling in front of one another he tilted her chin upwards. 

Just as Fawnrielle had finally calmed her beating heart from the previous events, the Jedi was now making it thunder again in her chest as he touched her.

Leaning slightly forward, Anakin gently brushed back the hair that was falling into her face behind her ear before chasing the wetness away from her cheeks with his thumb. 

He sat back to admire his work as he brought a hand to his chin, reflecting. “Mmm.” He pondered, before his eyes widened in illumination.

He reached to the side and plucked a small flower from the ground. Leaning back in, he placed the flower gently through her hair, just as she had done to him earlier. 

“Here, now you look most dashing.” He whispered back to her as his blue eyes locked with her brown ones. 

The girl blinked rapidly, forgetting to breathe for a moment as he looked at her. There was just something in the way he stared at her, the slight scowl on his brow, his blue eyes peering right through her. Every time he laid them on her, she felt them warming her skin like the sizzling touch of a lightsaber. And his lips,   
fuck, his lips.

Hypnotized by him, she felt his slender fingers run through her hair as he ever so slowly lowered his hand from her face. She felt shivers crawl up her spine as it came to rest on her upper arm. She could feel it’s warmth through her clothing.

She watched as his eyes quickly darted down to her mouth then back to her eyes. 

His thick brows furrowed as he swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down his throat.

He found himself fighting with his own thoughts and desires again for the billionth time since meeting her. The temptation had never been greater. He thought it had been hard to control himself with Padmé… That only seemed like a silly crush now. No this was much worse. Padmé had never even let him get even remotely close like that. In that moment he could almost count the freckles that dusted Fawnrielle’s cheeks. Illuminated by the night sky he could see every subtle colour variation in her irises, could see the light bouncing off her Cupid’s bow, the glossiness of her lips. One kiss couldn’t hurt right? Just one? It wasn’t giving in so much as just satisfying his curiosity right? 

The girl starred at his lips just as he did hers as they parted slightly. She realized only then just how much closer he had leaned in as she felt his breath on her face.

They both froze there, suddenly realizing that if none of them stopped what was going to happen. It washed over them like a cold shower in the morning. 

But both didn’t dare move for a moment, almost daring one another: you go first.

Anakin closed his eyes forcefully before throwing his head back to look up at the sky. 

“The stars are absolutely gorgeous here aren’t they?” He spoke up, shattering the bubble that had enveloped them for a minute.  
But the girl’s eyes stayed glued to his lips. “Uh?-oh- yes. Yes they are.” She stuttered.

“There’s so many lights on Coruscant, we can never see them like this.” Anakin said as he looked back down at her, leaning slightly backwards. “Would you lay down with me and watch them for a while, my Lady?” He asked the girl softly.  
She nodded shyly, finally peeling her eyes off him.

Both shuffled in the grass as they laid down side by side.

Once settled comfortably, Fawnrielle spoke up. “Anakin?” She called.

The boy turned his head towards her. “Mm?”

“You can call me by my name, you know.” She added, turning to look at him as well.

Their arms were both rested against each other’s, every part of their exposed skin tickled by the herbs beneath them.

“Oh, I would like to, but I’m afraid I’m technically not allowed.” He told her.

“Oh.” Fawnrielle simply said as she turned her head back to the sky only to turn it back towards the boy again. “Well, no one has to know…” She gave him a small tentative smile.

He smiled back. “Mm.. I suppose you’re right.” 

They stared at each other for a moment again, both their faces illuminated by the three moons floating above them.

Anakin’s finger brushed the back of her hand as he looked back up at the night sky. 

“So… Tell me about this world, your world.” He asked as he lifted his free hand to place it underneath his head.

“Mmm. Well, it’s quite a small planet. Much smaller than Coruscant. It was unoccupied for a really long time even after being discovered. Only maybe 300 years ago, Coruscant started exploiting the resources on it. My ancestors immigrated from there when they started colonizing it. It’s much retained it’s very wild and rural aspect. There’s not much that’s interesting here besides the minerals, really. There’s not much to do either, I was brought up so that I could one day take over the trade.” She explained. “What about you, do you remember your homeworld?”

Her thoughts drifted momentarily to her brother: he certainly didn’t… but then again, already she could tell Anakin strayed far from the conventional route.

“I do actually.. I was discovered quite late by the Jedi order… Almost too late, in fact. I was 9 when I was found… It was totally by accident.” He smiled recalling the memory. “This queen from Naboo crashed on our planet, on Tatooine that is. If you don’t know Tatooine, well there’s not much to know. It’s just sand, sand, sand.. And criminals.. I was born a slave and my mother as well. Until this queen and her two Jedis, Master Qui-on Jinn and my now master, popped out of nowhere, quite literally… I helped them repair their ship so they could leave. That’s when Master Jinn realized I was force sensitive.” He sighed. “He was supposed to be the one to train me but died shortly after, it was his wish that Obi-Wan train me… And I guess the rest his history.” 

“History?” She scoffed in amusement. “Your life is so much more interesting than mine.”

“Oh come on, I’m sure there’s interesting parts about yours.” He said as he propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at the girl.

She pursed her lips, shrugging. “No, not really no…Well…” She frowned. “I suppose it is now…” She sighed as she looked away.

“We’ll find and we’ll punish who did this, I promise.” The young Jedi told her.

She looked up at him. “I thought Jedis didn’t seek revenge?” She asked.

“Revenge? No. Justice? Yes.” He explained.

Through the darkness, she could feel the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke. 

She rested a hand against his chest. “Thank you, Anakin. Truly.” She said almost in a whisper. “I fear you might be my only ally in this.” She let her hand fall back.

“Of course not, Fawnrielle.” Her name in his mouth sent a shiver down her neck. “There’s my master- your brother, that lady from the village and the senate of course! It might not feel like much, but it is already more than nothing.” He tried to convince her.

The girl sighed, closing her eyes momentarily. “That’s all beautiful, Anakin, but these people are only my allies because of what I possess and I what I mean monetarily to them, not my person. If I died, it would only be harder to regain control over the resources on this planet, nobody would actually care.”

The young man frowned at her in the darkness. “That’s not true.”

“It is… You’re being naïve if you can’t see it. I’m a pawn. Sure I’m a Lady but the people who had the friends and the connections were my parents, not me. I’m not important to anyone. I’m sure anyone on this planet, especially my workers would probably assassinate me the first chance they had if it meant taking control of the company…”

Skywalker laid back down on his back, slightly defeated by her words. He knew it to be true, but he refused for it to become the only truth. “I’m certain everything will fall into place. Once we get the bounty hunters under arrest, you will have your time. I’m sure you will make a splendid job with the company. I find you to be quite charming so I’m sure you won’t have any problems making your place.”  
The girl stayed silent for a second. She admired his tenacity and bravery, something she wished she had. “I suppose you’re right” She simply said.

“And besides, you already have a pretty powerful friend…” He added. “Me.”

She gave him a small appreciative smile for his comment. “Of course.”

The pair kept chatting for a while, talking about politics, their views of the world, Anakin’s fantastic Jedi adventures and Fawnrielle’s mundane slices of life. They laughed, argued, bantered, flirted, all whilst comfortably snuggled in their bed of grass. The cold wind had stopped and little insects everywhere around them were singing soothing lullabies. Anakin had wrapped his cloak around the both of them as they faced each other, engulfing them in a cozy little cocoon.

Surely enough their conversations became sloppy and nonsensical as fatigue settled over them. Comfortably cuddled together for warmth and comfort, soon, the pair found itself drifting gently to sleep, there, in the middle of the meadow…


	5. The Sun Above

As the sun slowly rose from behind the mountains far in the distance, Anakin stirred as he awoke.

He blinked quickly as the sun hit his eyes, first confused, but then quickly remembered where he had fallen asleep; in the middle of the meadow, his and Fawnrielle's bodies tangled together underneath his heavy cloak.

There, all curled up against his chest, still soundly asleep, was the Kenobi girl’s small frame. Her hands laid flat against his stomach, her fingers lightly gripping the fabric of his shirt as she slept.   
He could feel her warm breath on his neck as her head was tucked just underneath his chin, her face nestled in the nook at the junction of his shoulder and neck. Her red hair was sprawled all over the place, tangled in their bed of grass just as much as in his fingers from the hand that hugged her body closer to his. 

He could feel her foot softly stroking the back of his leg from within the jumble of limbs that were their legs. 

“Fawnrielle?” The boy whispered in the hopes of waking her up. His breath lifted in the cold morning air in a small cloud of fog.

They needed to get back to the ship before his master realized they were gone or worse, found them together like this.

The girl only sighed against his skin causing shivers to run up his spine. “Fawnrielle.. wake up.” He tried again, a little louder this time.

He tried to wriggle his arm out from underneath her head slowly.

Awoken by the slight movement, the girl finally opened her eyes. She blinked at few time, stretching away from the young man’s frame. 

She looked up at him, still half asleep. “Force, what time is it?” She groaned yawning.

As she came to her senses she realized just what kind of situation she had gotten herself into. Still nestled in the Jedi’s arms, she could feel his hand resting on her hip and his knee lodged between her thighs.

She looked at the sky whilst she felt her cheeks flush.

“I have no idea, but we should hurry back to the ship.” Anakin answered, propping himself up on his elbow as he looked down upon her face illuminated by the sunrise.

Fawnrielle looked back at him briefly. “You’re right.”

Under the sun, his hair shined of a golden colour as the darker tone of his skin contrasted against her alabaster one.

The boy slowly got up from his spot from the ground, outstretching a hand towards the girl to help her up.

She gladly took it, feeling her muscles ache as they awoke from their slumber.

Even though her body hurt from sleeping on the hard ground, her heart and head felt light for the first time since it had all began.

Once the girl was on her feet, Anakin proceeded to gently pull out the branches that were stuck in her hair as she dusted herself.

“Mm. What would happen if your master did find us like this?” She asked him.

His eyes met hers for a moment. “I don’t actually know. In all honesty.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, being done with his previous task. “But I do know one thing. It’s best not to tempt fate.” He warned, as he raised his eyebrows. 

Fawnrielle let out a small laugh at that.

He motioned for her to go first and she obliged.

Striking up a conversation on their way back, they both hadn’t realized the master Jedi standing on the loading deck of the ship, hands on his hips.

“And where have the both of you been?” Obi-Wan demanded as the pair approached him.

“Oh!.. Good morning, master! We um.. We were..” Anakin fumbled nervously.

“Taking a refreshing morning walk, master Kenobi.” Fawnrielle spoke up.

She might have been terrible when it came to being courageous, but she was a tremendous liar.

The girl smiled as she walked up the deck past her brother, Anakin in tow.

The boy had a small smirk on his face, but it quickly vanished when Obi-Wan caught him by the arm as he brushed past him.

“Anakin, I must talk to you about the girl.” He whispered as fawnrielle made her way inside the ship.

Skywalker raised a questioning eyebrow at his master. 

“I must insist, my young Padawan, whatever this frivolous adventure the both of you are having, I do not condone.” The senior warned gravely.

Anakin scoffed. He opened his mouth to speak but Obi-Wan beat him to it again.

“Do not deny this, I can read you like an open book.” He released his arm. “You cannot let your feelings run free like this. Take control, Anakin. Feelings can be dangerous and you know this to be   
true.”

The boy folded his arms across his chest. “And what might you know about feelings, master?” He snapped back at him as he raised his chin up in offence. “Mmm?”

“Watch your tone with me, young man.” 

The apprentice shook his head. “You don’t have any. So I think I’ll deal with mine without your help, thank you.”

He didn’t give his mentor the time to reply before he promptly entered the ship.

Obi-Wan let out an exasperated sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Would he ever get through to the boy and talk some sense into him, he wondered.

By the time he had made it inside as well, the pair were in the kitchen preparing food.

“After breakfast, we will make our way to the castle.” He announced. “All of us.”

The girl looked at the master, feeling her heart clench. “Is it really safe for me to come?” She asked.

She hoped she could have just stayed somewhere safe in the meantime. Not only was she afraid of getting caught by the assassins but also she dreaded what she would find back home.

“Well we can’t leave you here alone, you’re better coming with us where at least one of us can protect you, and besides, we don’t know the way to the castle.” Obi-Wan replied as he approached   
them to help them with breakfast.

“My droid does.” She said as she looked at Anakin. “And one of you could stay with me while the other goes with N3?” She suggested hopefully.

Both Kenobis were now looking at the padawan. 

He gave an apologetic smile. “I’m afraid I’m missing the parts and tools necessary, besides it would take longer for me to repair the droid than to just make our way there with you.” 

“How long would it take you think?” Fawnrielle asked.

“Oh, probably 2 or 3 days. These droids have very intricate wiring and programming.” He told her as he placed their food on the table.

The siblings joined him at the table.

Fawnrielle sighed, disappointed. “And what exactly are you expecting to find at the castle?”

Both Jedis could feel how anxious the girl was.

Anakin scooted a little closer to her in his seat, hoping his proximity would soothe her somehow.

“Well we need to get a glimpse of who we’re dealing with and hope we can negotiate with them.” Obi-Wan informed her. 

The girl’s eyebrows instantly furrowed. “Negotiate? Negotiate!?” She scoffed. “You want to negotiate with the people who assassinated my parents? Our parents might I remind you?” She spat out,   
incredulously.

She felt deeply offended. Was this the type of justice the Jedi order strove for? Oh your parents were killed? No worries we’ll just go and meet the killers and just have a chit chat about the matter.   
Never before had the affairs on Stewjorn been even remotely the concern of the Senate and she quickly came to understand maybe it was better that way.

Anakin calmly put his hand on her forearm to try and calm her again. But just as he was about to speak, his master cut him off.

“Their fate will be determined by the senate. It is not our place to decide.” He simply added.

She quickly looked at Anakin’s hand, but it didn’t seem to do much in this situation. “So you’re just going to calmly ask them to come with you on your ship to go back to coruscant and go to   
jail?.. And they’ll just.. do it?” She scoffed again. 

This was seriously laughable to her.

“That’s the best scenario yes.” Her brother added simply.

She looked incredulously at Anakin whose eyes were glued to her. She could have slapped her brother right now.  
“Listen, I know how you feel..” He spoke almost in a whisper as he leaned in. “But don’t worry, that’s just what we’re obligated to say for the looks…” He winked at her. “They won’t have much of a choice-”

“Anakin.” The master scolded him.

The boy whipped his head around, looking at his master, eyebrows raised as he let go of the girl’s arm. “What?” He asked in an innocent voice.

The master sighed. “Just finish your breakfasts.” He ordered.

Fawnrielle smirked as she exchanged a quick look with the boy.

She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but at this point she trusted more Anakin than Obi-Wan. 

She sighed as she tried to calm herself down.

Soon enough, they all finished their food and got ready to depart.

They walked for over an hour through the forest until they reached what seemed to be a dead end as they approached a range of small, but steep mountains.

“I don’t mean to be rude my Lady, but it seems we went the wrong way.” Obi-Wan spoke up.

“The city is just beyond these mountains.” The girl answered. “There is only a few roads that lead across them, but there is an old abandoned mining tunnel that will take us across, it’s the one I   
used to escape… I thought it would be safer than the main road.”

“Good thinking, my Lady.” Anakin complimented, flashing her a quick smile.

Fawnrielle felt herself blush lighting, clearing her throat as she tried to ignore the boy.

So the group continued walking towards the mountains for a bit, until they reached the feet of the mountains. 

“The entrance should be around here somewhere.” Fawnrielle spoke up.

Without further questions all of them got busy looking around in the nearby woods.

But after a few minutes of unsuccessful searching Obi-Wan spoke up.

“What are we looking for exactly?” He asked from a distance.

To cover more ground, they had split.

“Just a pile of random rubble that doesn’t really belong?” She shouted back. “They covered it up a few years ago.” She added.

The girl nearly jumped as a voice spoke up from right above her shoulder.

“How did you get out then?” Anakin asked.

“Anakin!” She whisper/shouted as she whirled around to face the boy. “You scared me.”

The apprentice smiled as he clasped his hands behind his back, rocking backwards on his heels. “Sorry.”

She looked up at him, taking a step back. He was so tall. 

“Well that’s actually how N3 got damaged.” She told him as she turned back around continuing to scan the horizon. “He’s the one who managed to push some boulders out of the way but some   
of them fell on him.”She told him.

The boy listened as he followed her, not taking her eyes off of the girl. He watched the sun rays peeking through the trees and hitting her long locks of loose hair, making them look like they were on fire. They draped over her shoulders and down her back. She was wearing the simple linen tunic that had been given to her with the wool shawl wrapped around her waist. 

He breathed in sharply as he thought back about the night before, how it felt to have her wrapped around him. He had never been so close with anyone before, and he couldn’t wait for the moment he could hold her again.

Sensing Anakin’s eyes on her, she quickly glanced at him over her shoulder. Their eyes met as she frowned.

“What?” The boy asked.

“What, what? You’re the one looking at me.” She answered.

“Nonsense, you’re the one who turned around.” He laughed.

“I can feel you staring at me you know.” She added still looking over her shoulder.

He ignored her.

“You better watch where you’re going, Fawnrielle. You don’t wanna fall again.” He warned playfully, smirking at her.

“Me? You’re the one who falls all the time! Not me!” She scoffed back at him. “Stop worrying about me and just help me look for the damn thing!” The girl whined as she turned back around.

“Oh I already found it.” Skywalker simply stated.

The redhead stopped dead in her tracks, slowly turning around to look at the boy, exasperated. “Why didn’t you say so?!” She yelled at him.

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest shrugging, still smiling. 

Fawnrielle’s eyes widened as she shook her head in disbelief. “Obi-Wan is right, you truly are useless.” 

The boy cocked her head at her in amusement. “Maybe I just liked the view…” He raised an eyebrow at her.

The girl gasped. “Anakin!” She slapped his arm. “That is so inappropriate!” She pretended to be offended but truth be told her heart was thundering in her chest.

He laughed at her, smirking. “Oh you know I’m only jesting.” (That was a lie).

She squinted her eyes at him doubtfully, crossing her arms over her chest.

They sized each other up for a minute, defying each other, waiting to see which one of the two would give up first.

Ugh. She didn’t know why he made her feel like this. If it was any other guy smirking at her like that she would have just sneered at them, rolled her eyes. But force. She couldn’t tear her eyes off him, his blue eyes, his tanned skin, his perfectly straight smile, his lips. Oh no not the lips again.

Meanwhile, the thoughts in Anakin’s head weren’t any clearer. They were racing at the speed of light, just a fumble of words and feelings, discombobulated ideas and pictures.

He took a step closer to the girl, towering over her.

She froze on her spot as he leaned down to whisper in her ear: “You know, I’m pretty sure even Obi-Wan can hear your heart beat from wherever he is right now.” 

The girl could feel the heat rapidly rising up to her cheeks as Anakin slowly straightened himself back up.

She blinked rapidly a few times.

“Pshh, don’t flatter yourself, Skywalker. It’s just really hot today.” She stated as she took a step back, fanning her face with her hand. “How are you not boiling alive with that cloak on?” She asked, pointing to the garment.

“I’m from Tatooine remember? This is a mild day compared to the temperatures there.” He told her. “I can take it off if it bothers you so-“

“Anakin, Lady Kenobi! I think I’ve found it.” It was Obi-Wan’s voice that broke them apart.

Fawnrielle sighed in relief.

Anakin raised an eyebrow at the girl, motioning with his arm for her to go first. “My lady.”

When the pair finally found the master, he had indeed found the pile of rubble that covered the entrance of the mine.

As they approached closer, Obi-Wan reached between the boulders as something caught his eye. 

“What is it?” Fawnrielle asked.

The master held the piece of shinny golden metal out.

“I think it’s a part from your droid…” Anakin replied as he took the part from his master’s hands. He put it in his satchel. “Might need it later.”

“Are you sure this it? I don’t see an entrance.” The master asked his sister.

“It is, but when we tore the exit open, it might have collapsed after.” 

“Mmm. Anakin help me move these out of the way?” 

“Of course master.” Both men stood in front of the rubble as they started using the force to move the rocks out of the way. He turned to Fawnrielle. “You might want to step away, my Lady.” He winked at her.

The girl bit her lip as she oblige.

She pondered between staying there and watching them work or just wandering about. Not too far though.

The woods weren’t as scary during the day as they were at night, so she decided to walk around a bit. Maybe she’d see some pretty birds or some flowers. And besides, she desperately needed to take a breath and most importantly: a break from Anakin. Not that he was being anything bad to her. Actually far from that.

He seemed to be having a grand old time pushing all of her buttons at once. He clearly knew by now she was attracted to him, and she could see he was too. He was toying with her. Maybe he enjoyed taunting her like this? Seeing her blush every time he said something audacious to her. Clearly he could see her flushing every time, she did quite a pitiful job at hiding that. 

She had to admit, she really struggled to keep his fire in check. She wouldn’t dare repeat it, but she’d be lying if she wasn’t daydreaming about him kissing her every time her mind wandered. 

But before she knew exactly what he expected from her, she didn’t dare play the game. She was in fact, nervous and almost scared. She couldn’t deny the tension between them… but she was still a virgin. And the thought daunted her. 

When she was with him she didn’t think about that fact one bit… But when she found herself alone… 

By the way he constantly flirted with her, it was clear he had been on the merry go round many times. And she was scared if she indulged too much, she would soon find herself launching into   
hyperdrive towards somewhere she wasn’t sure she was ready yet…

So the girl meandered around for a bit, pondering and making sure she could always see the Jedis working from across the trees.

Just as she was approaching what felt like was the limit of the distance she could go, she found herself by a small stream of water.

Kneeling down by the water, she detached the shawl from her waist and set it aside. She leaned over the water, cupping it in her hands as she splashed her face with it. The cool water felt   
amazing against her warm skin. She hadn’t taken a shower in three days…

She winced at the thought, Anakin probably thought she smelt terrible…

Looking back to where the two men were she tried to see if they were almost done before deciding to strip and enter the water.

The stream wasn’t really as deep as she had hoped, so she sat in the water to try and quickly rinse her body.

Once she was done, the water was so inviting she couldn’t help but lay back in the stream. She relaxed as she felt the soft current of the fresh water massaging her skin as her hair floated around   
her. Looking up at the tree branches over her, she watched as a butterfly peacefully flew above her and for a moment she almost forgot where she was.

She let herself be softly rocked by the water for a minute.

Then, again, she let her thoughts wander.

This time though, they were filled with images. Images of her as a child, images of her mother and father, their smiles and how she would never see them again. She had never been that close to   
them, that was a fact. But now that they were gone, she felt guilty. Guilty for holding such resentment towards them for so long. She was mad at them for comparing her for so long to her   
brother, for them to hold on to him for such a long time. She was their daughter and she was right in front of them while he wasn’t there! It filled her with sadness every time they spoke about   
him, why wasn’t she enough? Just her? After all, she had spent more time with them than him… So why did it feel like they loved him more than her?

And the anger she felt when she saw his face. How could he return after all these years, especially now they were dead. He wouldn’t visit them when they were alive so why now? To taunt her?   
Remind her how much her deceased parent loved him almost more than her?..

She sat back up in the water, feeling the tears rolling down her cheeks. She splashed her face, trying to chase them away from her face.

She couldn’t let herself go there… not again.

She sniffled a bit before wringing the water out of her hair. The boys were surely done by now.

She was braiding it in one long braid down her back when she heard the sound of a branch snapping over the soft lapping of the water. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest.

Whipping her head around towards the sound she squealed in horror as her eyes met those of her brother and Anakin’s.

“Blast!” Obi-Wan shouted in shock as both men quickly whirled around in shock. “So so sorry my Lady.” 

Both men fumbled with their apologies as the girl, crippled with embarrassment, quickly made her way out of the water.

She grabbed her clothes and hastily dressed herself as the Jedis faced away from her.

“We were looking for you, we were worried.” Anakin spoke up.

“Well you found me didn’t you.. Let’s go now.” She quickly added before rapidly marching past them and walking ahead as she resumed her braid. Hoping to put the incident behind her as quickly   
as possible.

She was cringing to herself as she darted through the woods. Why did she have to get naked in the first place, of course this was gonna happen. 

She scoffed. Well, now this certainly was gonna help Anakin think of her NOT in a sexual way.

Confused by her reaction, the boy quickly followed after her, leaving his master behind them.

The eldest stayed behind and sighed as he rolled his eyes. One teen was already enough to manage, now he had two, what a headache. And on top he had to keep them from frolicking every five   
seconds. He cursed his former master’s dying wish of teaching Anakin. He did not have the patience for this.

When Anakin caught up to the girl, she had reached the entrance of the tunnel. 

He caught her hand as she was entering the shadows. “Are you alright?” He asked, concerned.

She stoped as she looked back at him. “Well besides being absolutely mortified, I’m actually splendid!” She let out a nervous laugh as she looked down to her feet refusing to meet his eyes.

He gave her a small smile even though she could not see. “Well… If it makes you feel better… I didn’t see anything.” He told her.

She sighed shaking her face as she felt her cheeks flush again. She didn’t believe it one bit.

She shook her head violently, trying to chase away the embarrassment and take control of herself.

Anakin nearly leaped back when the girl suddenly reached for his waist with her hand.

The boy held his breath in surprise as he watched her reach towards his belt, snatching his lightsaber out of it’s place. 

“Now how do you light this bloody thing.” She asked as she wildly shook it around trying to change the subject and just move on.

The padawan blinked quickly, still in shock. For a moment there he thought she was reaching for something quite different…

“Um..” He cleared his throat. “Here give it to me.” He said as he outstretched his hand towards her.

The girl quickly withdrew the tool behind her back. “Give it to me…?” She trailed, waiting for him to complete her sentence. “Give it to me what?”

He scoffed at her. “I don’t have to say please you stole it from me!” He exclaimed as he cocked his head to the side, baffled by her audacity as well as amused.

Were all girls confusing like this? One minute they were happy, the next mad, the next giving you attitude? The boy was certainly at a loss for words, but more importantly intrigued.

Part of him thought about just fighting her for it… but that wouldn’t be quite gentlemanly.

“True.” She shrugged. “But I only did it because you saw me naked.” 

Anakin threw his head backwards as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Oh. “I didn’t I swear!” He whined. “Now give it to me. Please?”

Fawnrielle squinted at him as he looked back at her. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

She placed the lightsaber back in his hand and he ignited it for her just as Obi-Wan was joining them.

“Ah, I didn’t think you kids would wait for me. That’s kind of you.” He thanked the pair as he ignited his lightsaber as well.

Both teens exchanged a look at the comment. 

“Of course, master.” Anakin answered. “You lead the way.”


End file.
